All about us

I am grateful. That itself is unusual. I am grateful to the doctors who finally got rid of that horrendous disease.

I, Nile remember the days in Cairo when I was constantly mocked for it. The first thing I did after I graduated was kill them.

The joy slid in. The terror in their eyes. The same terror that I had felt when they ganged up on me. Yes, mother was right. Hard work could get me places.

He thought of all this as he swam. Swimming almost always cleared his mind. That reminded him, he must send a thank you card to Scorpia. The lap pool was their present to him for killing Mrs Rothman.

The barge was just an accident. Nile pulled it off seeming that he had completed the job. The board was glad to see her gone. She had a far too extravagant life.

Thank goodness he had finally gotten over the fear. Stupid heights. They were still bad but not as before. All thanks to Alex.

Nile did one last lap and got out of the pool. His body glistened highlighting his most handsome features. Alex still thought he was dead. No, he had merely been raised onto the Scorpia board.

Alex also thought he had destroyed Scorpia. I laughed at the thought. Scorpia could never be destroyed. There would always be younger, fresher blood ready to replace the old bones.

The kiss on my shoulder told me that Yassen had woken up. For as long as we lived together, I would never understand his sleeping patterns. Yes, we did get married at a magistrate's court in the States.

Still we needed a little piece to make our family complete. That piece is Alex.

So what if he had been traumatised? Yessen and I could provide him with a perfect future. He will lack nothing. Wealth, stature and most importantly a real family. Not just a tag along but a proper family.

That is what we are doing now. Fighting custody battles with the Pleasures. If all else fails then we will kill them. Without Alex knowing of course.

It always amazed me how little he knew about himself. Yes, the custody battles are going on without his consent. The MI6 had wiped their hand clean of him. He could never run back to them.

Today was the last day for custody battles. The day Alex was to know. Nile was determined to win.

Now his stream of thought was broken. Yassen's insistent kisses begging him for attention. He turned his face to him experiencing pure bliss as their lips met.

Alex hated not knowing, especially when the matters concerned him. "Why is it that my life is always in the hands of adults," I thought aloud.

"Because they think they know what's right," Sabina answered. She like me only knew what was going on today. She dressed in a light blue shirt with cream pants. Sab had come to help me with my hair and I knew that it was going to be the last time in a while.

Court

"I give custody rights of Alex John Rider to Nile and Yassen Gregorvich," the Judge announced

Of course, Nile and I bribed him. No one in this uptight world would give custody of a child to a gay couple. Nothing anyone said could have made him change his mind.

My heartfelt heavy I hugged Mr and Mrs Pleasure one last time. Sabina, God this was like torture. Never to see her face or see her smile again, never to rate the French boys that had walked past.

Before Alex boarded he promised me something. We had been through so much together since Wimbledon and it was hard to believe that it was all ending. He was my best friend and I had to do it now.

Alex knew it too and sank his head down slightly to kiss me. As we kissed, I prayed that this would not be our last kiss. This one was not like anyone we had before. This one contained a promise. Promises never forget each other ever.

I watched Alex board the plane and then walked away. My eyes filled with tears that I would never let out.

The three of them boarded onto one of Scorpia's executive luxury jets. The seats made of hand stitched Italian leather and felt like heaven. The first purchases Nile made when he rose to the board.

"I thought you both were meant to be dead," Alex stated

No one answered him. In this silence, Alex wondered why he was not scared. He meant a normal person would have not even boarded the plane.

"Who is the girl," it was Nile

"As if you don't know," I answered back

"We know who she is but what does she mean to you," Yassen persisted

"Her name is Sabina. She means more to me than any girl has," it felt good to say that.

"Would you like to be home schooled or go to a private one," Nile asked

"Home,"

That monosyllable pleased both Nile and Yassen. If Alex was home schooled it would be easier for them. They could tour the world together. Maybe in a couple of year's time get him into an Ivy League university. The possibilities were endless. As the flight landed in Yessen's home country, they all felt something. For once, they felt complete.